Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

5 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad fast-paced

5.0

I accidentally joined a cult in college and managed to extricate myself and my friends from it within a couple of weeks as soon as I realized this wasn’t a regular church. Since then, I’ve been fascinated by what makes people tick, and book’s like this one is very helpful in my journey.

It was good to get a broad spectrum of cults versus just the ones deemed deviations of mainstream Christianity. By including fitness cults, social cults, New Age cults, and pyramid schemes, it makes it really obvious that we are all much more susceptible than in previous times. I would be really interested in reading an extra chapter devoted just to the MAGA cult at some point, if the writer were ever to update the book with one.

I give it a five because I’ll want to read this again later, rather than because it’s as good as a five might be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

katie0528's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

An exploration of language. The first half discusses how cults and religious groups use language tactics like "us vs. them" language creating their own codes/abbreviations to entice  followers and keep them in line. The second half focuses more on "Cultish" language in everyday life, from brands and movies with cult followings, to passionate communities like fitness clubs to social media influencers to QAnon, and how "Cultish" language can be used to build solidarity for good and for ill and ways to recognize and interrogate it.

I did listen to the audiobook and wish it was read by the author. The narrator was fine, but Amanda Montell hosts a podcast called Sounds Like a Cult, and she is so much more engaging when discussing these topics.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Gaslighting

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking

Minor: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Suicide, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

allisonmenck's review against another edition

informative

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide, Violence, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Abortion

linkamarisa's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Misogyny, Suicide, Abortion, and Cultural appropriation

dealingwithdragons's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Cursing, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Confinement, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Vomit, Trafficking, Stalking, Abortion, and Alcohol

Cults and "cultish" organizations do a lot of terrible things.